I’ve wanted to visit the Dolomites since seeing pictures of them years ago. So when we arrived in Bolzano, Italy, and began getting peekaboo views of the iconic mountains, I was giddy.
Originally, we’d planned to take a bus to a nearby town and hope for some good views. But once we were there in person and Scott saw how excited I was, we rented a car for two days to ensure we could get as close as we wanted.
It might have been the best decision of the trip.
Driving up to the Dolomites gave us the flexibility to pick and choose where we went and we settled on Alpe di Siusi, a plateau known for being the largest high-altitude alpine meadow in Europe.
As we rode the gondola up the mountainside, we realized the distant sounds we could hear were bells from the mountain cows below.
When we reached the top, I felt like we needed music from a movie soundtrack to mark our epic arrival. There’s really nothing like stepping out of a gondola and looking around for a full 360° view of the Dolomites. The air was chilly, but it was a welcome change from an entire summer of heat waves. More cowbells could be heard in the distance, and the kids ran off to explore. We had arrived!
Dolomites – Family Friendly Hike
Several different hikes start from the area and we chose the Alpe di Siusi Family Tour. More of a walk than a hike, this 4.7 mile loop was easy for the kids (and for the crazy woman who forgot her trail shoes back at the apartment and was only wearing her Birkenstocks🤦♀️) but still gave us once-in-a-lifetime views. Check out this short video from our walk.
The Nearby Town of Siusi, Italy
After our walk, we took the gondola back down to the small town of Siusi where we stopped and had a snack at a cafe. We sat outside with incredible views of the mountains and I had another iced coffee — which I mentioned in my Bolzano post is basically a cross between a coffee float and milkshake. Yum.
A short walk around the tiny town was the perfect way to end our day trip out to the Dolomites. Scott snapped these incredible pictures that are the closest thing to capturing the experience.
The Dolomites – A Perfect Farewell to Italy
We all had favorite parts of this entire adventure, and the Dolomites immediately became one of mine. I’ve said that about a few places along the way, but this will definitely be one of the places that stands out most in my mind years from now. It was the perfect way to end our adventure in Italy before moving on to the last three stops in Germany, The Netherlands, and France.
This is part of a series about our Winters Family Summer Adventure through Italy and beyond. You can start from the beginning of the blog series here.
